DEVELOP ANTI-DRONE TECHNOLOGY

In light of the long and hot border with China, which is a world leader in drone manufacturing, India needs to do a lot more to enhance its anti-drone capabilities

- ROHIT GOEL

MODERN WARFARE IS EVOLVING WITH MODERN TECHNOLOGY. One such technology that had made a huge difference in today’s battlefields and has changed the dynamics on battlegrounds is the effective use of drones for a variety of purposes, not just for ISR but in combat roles as well where the basic method is to equip drones with gravity bombs or turn the drone into a miniature kamikaze-like weapon. Since they are relatively small, such drones are able to sneak up on unsuspecting targets during day and night and hit them when they might be most vulnerable. Small, relatively cheap, and easy to use, these drones are effective against any target.

Recent conflicts, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the days-old fighting between Israel and Hamas, show the growing importance of drones in war, especially the smaller ones which are relatively cheaper to procure and easier to handle. Even in earlier conflicts in Central Asia and the Middle East like the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the Yemen war, the long drawn war in Syria or the Afghanistan war, drones were used very effectively. The threat from drones is likely to increase as technical advancements such as artificial intelligence and machine learning increase their capabilities and as the costs of such systems come down.